Leadership Based on Illusions? Management, Efficiency, and Effectiveness in African Context Examples of Higher Education Systems and Institutions in Africa

Abstract

The way Africa is perceived by a broader public and economic research has changed in roughly a decade, Africa has gone from being labeled "the hopeless continent" to enjoying an unprecedented boom. Africa had been described and critiqued as a lost continent, eternally plagued by tribal wars, famine and mass poverty. But since the turn of the millennium, the world has a different take on Africa – thanks to an economic boom that refuses to fit into the usual distorted picture. The same voices that once proclaimed the continent dead are now predicting a rebirth for Africa, the awakened giant with nearly incalculable natural resources (around 40 percent of the world's raw materials and 60 percent of its uncultivated arable land), fast-growing markets and a young, highly motivated population. The described changes of the perception of Africa are mainly backed by some macroeconomic data but there is not much additional evidence produced by research what could be triggering the economic upsurge of the continent and if it will be sustainable or not. Poverty, inefficient institutions and a lack of infrastructure are challenges which are still widespread on the African continent and the regional differences are enormous. Some nations are gaining momentum others like Libya and Egypt, where it is debatable if these nations are correctly labeled as ‘African , but also others like Nigeria, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo are even more troubled by the typical ‘African Vices’ of tribal or religious motivated violence, instable institutions and ‘bad leadership’...

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Leadership Based on Illusions? Management, Efficiency, and Effectiveness in African Context Examples of Higher Education Systems and Institutions in Africa

The way Africa is perceived by a broader public and economic research has changed in roughly a decade, Africa has gone from being labeled "the hopeless continent" to enjoying an unprecedented boom. Africa had been described and critiqued as a lost continent, eternally plagued by tribal wars, famine and mass poverty. But since the turn of the millennium, the world has a different take on Africa – thanks to an economic boom that refuses to fit into the usual distorted picture. The same voices that once proclaimed the continent dead are now predicting a rebirth for Africa, the awakened giant with nearly incalculable natural resources (around 40 percent of the world's raw materials and 60 percent of its uncultivated arable land), fast-growing markets and a young, highly motivated population. The described changes of the perception of Africa are mainly backed by some macroeconomic data but there is not much additional evidence produced by research what could be triggering the economic upsurge of the continent and if it will be sustainable or not. Poverty, inefficient institutions and a lack of infrastructure are challenges which are still widespread on the African continent and the regional differences are enormous. Some nations are gaining momentum others like Libya and Egypt, where it is debatable if these nations are correctly labeled as ‘African , but also others like Nigeria, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo are even more troubled by the typical ‘African Vices’ of tribal or religious motivated violence, instable institutions and ‘bad leadership’...